The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine appears to be significantly less efficient against the South African mutation, but can still stop hosts from experiencing severe COVID and dying from the virus.
New data from the REACT study finds that the number of COVID cases in hospitals is higher than it was in April 2020, but that infection rates are substantially decreasing across the country.
Currently, 16% of the global population have pre-ordered 70% of available COVID vaccines in 2021 - a group of virus experts now warn that COVID will keep evolving unless low income countries can access vaccines.
Rachel Thrasher, Research Fellow at the Global Development Policy Center in Boston, explains how the TRIPS COVID-19 waiver rejected by the WTO could ramp up global vaccine production.
The World Health Organisation have suggested that the Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine can be safely used for all age groups, including those aged 65 and over.
Residents flying from any of the 33 "red-list" countries will now have to pay online for a quarantine hotel before travelling - which includes two COVID tests that will now be made mandatory.
Zisis Kozlakidis, International Agency for Research on Cancer, with Erik Steinfelder, Thermo Fisher Scientific, chart the challenges in healthcare logistics in relation to COVID-19.
The new results led to the South African Government suspending use of AstraZeneca in their vaccination programme, as it is no longer able to stop the mutation - but could still prevent hospitalisation and fatality.
